Bonaire: Day 1: SCUBA!

Today was our first official full day in Bonaire. We woke up the the sun shining and beautiful, though a little breezy weather. We had breakfast at Rum Runners, a buffet style with fresh fruit, eggs, sausage, and an omelet bar. They also had fresh squeezed juices. At 9 we had our dive orientation. It was you're typical what you're allowed to do on the marine preserve and what you aren't. They also talked about the different areas that we can go to for diving. After the orientation, we picked up our marine park passes and grabbed weights for our BCs. 

Today we just did shore dives. Our first dive, Drew and I partnered. I didn't have enough weight in my BC so it was a bit of a battle the entire dive. We went south on the House Reef and were down around 56 ft at our lowest part. For the most part we cruised around 30 ft since it was a check out dive to see how everything was working. Despite my weight problems, we still were down about 50 minutes. We saw a little spotted eel, no more than a foot long. We also saw a tarpon that was between 4 and 5 feet long. Because Bonaire is a marine preserve, the coral is still pretty vibrant and there are just TONS of fish. There are big parrot fish, sgt majors, gar (pencil fish), an plenty of others. We decided we need to pick up a book on fish names because we don't know very many.

For lunch we stayed at the Habitat again. I had a smoked salmon sandwich that was pretty good. The view is the best part.

Drew and I did our second dive at 2:30. We both changed out weights and the dive was much smoother this time. Well, once I changed tanks because mine was leaking air when we got in the water and after we had to emergency surface because my regular wasn't hooked up to my BC. After that it was a great dive. We went north along the House Reef, hanging at aroung 60 ft along the shelf. There were so many kinds of coral; big fans, vibrant orange brain, long purple tubes, green mossy looking balls, just to name a few. We saw another eel, about a foot and a half white one with green fins. We also saw two sea turtles. The first was yellow with a yellow and brown shell and had a bit of a pointed beak. The second was your typical green lagerhead. Turtles are so cool.  It was looking like it might storm when we first went down, and the fish were in big schools together, but it was nice and sunny when we finally surfaced. 

After showering and freshening up, we went over to the bar for our complementary rum punches and a meet and greet with Captain Don himself. He's a salty old sea dog, but a nice guy. They also had a steal drummer singing and playing. We had dinner at the Habitat. I had the sea linguini (wahoo and shrimp) and calamari. We ate on the lowest deck, so in early evening high winds we got a little ocean spray, but it subsided pretty quickly. Overall it was a pretty great day.

Until tomorrow, bon voyage!

Two Weeks!

Hi everyone,

So finals have just finished here at USC and Winter Break has officially begun. I must say, that while this semester was so much fun and also really interesting, I'm glad to have a little time off to decompress. Break also means that its almost time for me to go to Bonaire! But if that wasn't enough, I've never been in my parents house for Christmas. We always travel either up to Ohio to see my dad's side of the family or to Florida to see my mom's. This is a Florida year, so we leave Saturday to head to Tampa/Clearwater. Basically this means two straight weeks of traveling.

I am so excited to finally be taking an actual trip again. I've been checking the weather everyday and it's been sunny with highs of 82 and lows of 79 for weeks now. I'll certainly take it.

The trip is planned through Open Water Adventures, a dive shop in Charlotte where both my brother and I were certified years ago. There are 28 of us going on the trip. This will be their 10th trip in 7 years and Joe (one of the owners) says it's one of his favorite places to dive. Can't complain about the number one shore diving place in the world.

I don't know if I will be posting during the trip or after, but posts should be up early January!

Bon Voyage

Picture curtosy of Joe Gaydeski (Openwater Adventures)

Weekend Getaway: Asheville

This last weekend was my fall break from University. My very last one. I can only say it was a much needed break and that Thanksgiving cannot come fast enough. But since South Carolina doesn't have much of a fall most years (though this year has been pretty nice), I snuck home and then went up to Asheville with my mom.

Our trip was mostly just to see the leaves changing, hang out in the mountains, and hit some of our favorite spots in the area. With having such a wet summer, the leaves weren't quite to their peak color which we figured we'd be hitting perfectly. Hoever there was a lot of color and it wasn't disappointing. 

We dropped by the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States, built and still owned by the Vanderbilts. For years we were pass holders because it was so much cheaper to do when we went up several times a year, but not so much now that my parents travel with work and I'm busy with school. We've seen it in every season, but fall is one of my favorites.

A new activity mom and I tried was the Biltmore Bubbly Tour. The Biltmore Estate is a very large regional wine producer and now produces 6 types of sparkling wine. Our tour took us through the process of creating the sparkling wine, which takes place entirely in the bottle in which it will be distributed, unlike wine which spends time in barrels. We also got to see the machine that corks the bottle and depressurized it. The cage over the cork is attached with 3 turns, so any time you are opening a bottle, it takes 6 half turns and then you're free to enjoy.

We forgoed visiting the house, and decided to just walk around the gardens and grounds.

For food this trip, our tour guide recommended Chestnut, a contemporary American restaurant with a constantly changing menu. I had lobster bisque that was to die for and thai curry mussels. Mom had a beet and goat cheese salad and a roasted chicken with green beans, risotto and a delightful orange sauce. We tried several of their house wines and were able to get a free dessert by sharing a picture of our meal on social media. We chose a chocolate mousse cake and each had a glass of Frangelico.

We also ate lunch at The Grove Park Inn. This is a giant hotel built entirely out of giant stones on the outside. It offers one of the most amazing views over Asheville and we enjoyed lunch on the terrace. I had their crab cake burger with duck fat fries and mom had their house burger. I also tried their centennial pale ale as they are celebrating 100 years. Mom had the Highland Octoberfest. Both were very nice.

A short trip, but a nice long weekend. Unless any other small trips come up, I'll see you next time in Bonaire!